Harvard Business School

QS Global RankQS Global Rankings Position in the QS World University Rankings: Global MBA Rankings 2019

#2

DurationHow long it normally takes to complete the program.

24 months

Avg. GMATAverage GMAT score for the program.

730

Fee (USD)Cost of tuition fees for full program

>$120k

MBA Overview

Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Ivy League stalwart Harvard University, in Boston, Massachusetts. HBS occupies four buildings directly opposite Harvard Stadium and across the Charles River from Harvard University, on the university’s extensive 40-acre grounds in the heart of the Boston-Cambridge area.

HBS offers a full-time, two-year, residential MBA program designed to prepare students for global leadership roles. In addition, HBS offers dual-degree options through other Harvard colleges, including Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

The Harvard MBA exposes students to real-life leadership challenges through interaction with a diverse community, immersing them in intense, transformative experiences that prepare them to be fully alert and functional wherever in the world they may go.

HBS differentiates its MBA program according to the following tenets:

- Global intelligence, to enable students to rise to the challenges of doing business in a complex, global world

- Learning in practice, with practical opportunities to learn how to make decisions in the face of conflicting data, complex politics, and intense pressures

- Entrepreneurship and innovation, with opportunities to explore a potential new venture, connect with entrepreneurs, and learn in-demand collaborative, team-based, entrepreneurial skills through utilizing the new Harvard i-Lab

- Residential learning community – with access to community of support

- Alumni relationships, which help students to uncover and build on networks to open new business opportunities

- Publications and resources – including the authoritative Harvard Business Review – with access to the world-class, pioneering research facilities at Harvard University.

HBS’s tenets are disseminated through various teaching, activity, case methods, multimedia simulations, small-team work to apply tools of design thinking (customer observation, brainstorming, and prototyping), and immersive learning experiences. There is also a busy and varied social calendar, which provide ample opportunities for developing leadership, networking, collaboration, and teamwork skills.

The program also includes Field Immersion Experiences Leadership Development (FIELD) foundations – a series of interactive workshops designed to help students explore and practice interpersonal and leadership skills; FIELD Global Immersion projects – where students travel to global markets and work with their Global Partner, offered via 156 global partners in 13 countries; section retreats – where students have the opportunity to bond through teamwork and activity challenges; Product Development Dash (DASH) days – which experiment with creating products to meet unmet customer needs; and GO Days – where students have an opportunity to present and launch their own microbusinesses, including everything from business development to prototyping.

Diversity in the student body at HBS is counted as one of the greatest strengths of the MBA program. Classes are large (937 are enrolled in the current year), with a 12% acceptance rate; they comprise 42% women, 28% ethnic minorities, and 34% international students from 64 countries. These also represent a wide range of industries/backgrounds – 48 in total – as well as years of prior career experience.

Post-graduation, 91% of students are employed within three months, with an average salary of US$177,541 (after three years), representing an increase of 97%.